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President Trump's Executive Orders ("EOs") on immigration triggered a series of lawsuits that are still playing out in federal courts across the nation. The lawsuits have resulted in orders barring certain portions of the EOs, at least for the time being.Judge James Robart: Referees helping Refugees.For those not familiar with the U.S. system, we have three (supposedly) co-equal branches of government: The executive (the President), the legislative (Congress), and the judicial (federal courts). The judicial generally acts as an umpire or referee, making sure that the other branches play by the rules, or in this case, the Constitution and laws of the United States. What has been happening with the EOs is that the President is asserting his authority over immigration (and the President does have broad authority over immigration), but he is constrained by the U.S. Constitution and the existing immigration law. The lawsuits argue that the President has overstepped his authority, and so far, most courts have agreed to issue preliminary orders blocking the EOs, at least until the courts can more fully analyze whether the orders comply with the law.
Probably the broadest decision thus far issued was by a U.S. District Judge in Seattle, James Robart. The lawsuit was brought by Washington State and the state of Minnesota in their role as "parens patriae of the residents living in their borders." The decision temporary stays several key portions of the EO related to terrorism based on the Judge's conclusion that the states' lawsuit was likely to succeed on the merits and that the states face "immediate and irreparable injury" as a result of the EOs. Specifically, the Judge found that the EO "adversely affects the States' residents in the areas of employment, education, business, family relations, and freedom to travel." In addition, the Judge found that, "the States themselves are harmed by virtue of the damage that implementation of the Executive Order has inflicted upon the operations and missions of their public universities and other institutions of higher learning, as well as injuries to the States' operations, tax bases, and public funds." Thus, the Judge issued a temporary restraining order against the EO. The order blocks portions of the EO nationwide, and will remain in effect until the Court can reach a decision on the merits of the lawsuit (or until it is overturned by a higher court).
The President, through the Department of Justice, filed an appeal, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has thus far refused to overturn the District Judge's order. So what does all this mean?
First, according to its website, USCIS "continues to adjudicate applications and petitions filed for or on behalf of individuals in the United States regardless of their country of origin, and applications and petitions of lawful permanent residents outside the U.S. USCIS also continues to adjudicate applications and petitions for individuals outside the U.S. whose approval does not directly confer travel authorization. Applications to adjust status also continue to be adjudicated, according to existing policies and procedures, for applicants who are nationals of countries designated in the Jan. 27, 2017, 'Executive Order: Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States.'" This means that even if you are from one of the "banned" countries--Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya or Yemen--your case will be processed as before the EO. So USCIS should continue to issue decisions for nationals of such countries, at least for the time being.
Second, the State Department will resume issuing visas for people from the listed countries, including refugees. U.S. visas for nationals of these countries that were "provisionally revoked" are now "valid for travel to the United States, if the holder is otherwise eligible." Meaning that if you are from a banned country and you have a valid U.S. visa, you should be able to enter the United States. Again, the Judge's order is temporary, and it may be overturned, so if you have a visa and wish to come to the United States, you should do so immediately, since we do not know for how long the Judge's temporary restraining order will remain in place.
Third, DHS/Customs and Border Protection is also following the Judge's order, even if it is doing so reluctantly. From the CBP website:

In accordance with the judge's ruling, DHS has suspended any and all actions implementing the affected sections of the Executive Order entitled, "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States." This includes actions to suspend passenger system rules that flag travelers for operational action subject to the Executive Order. DHS personnel will resume inspection of travelers in accordance with standard policy and procedure. At the earliest possible time, the Department of Justice intends to file an emergency stay of this order and defend the President's Executive Order, which is lawful and appropriate. The Order is intended to protect the homeland and the American people, and the President has no higher duty and responsibility than to do so.

So all people with valid visas and who are otherwise eligible to enter--including nationals of the banned countries--should be able to board planes, travel to the United States, and enter the country. In short, the Judge's order restores the situation for such travelers to how it was prior to the EOs.
Finally, I wrote in an update to last week's post that additional countries may be added to the banned list. As long as the Judge's order is in place, I doubt that will happen, and--more importantly--the State Department informed the American Immigration Lawyer's Association that there was no "addendum, annex or amendment now being worked on to expand visa revocations or the travel ban to countries other than those currently implicated in [the] Executive Order." Hopefully, this means that we will not see additional countries added to the "banned" list.
The legal fight over the EOs is a rapidly moving target, so before you make any travel plans, please check the news or check with a lawyer to make sure there are no additional changes affecting you. I will also try to keep posting updates here.